By Neil Fogarty

We all have them, that favorite song when we are missing someone.  Be it a deceased parent, a child off to college, or a spouse gone too soon, the words of songs often evoke emotions and often unexpectedly.  Songs are great reminders of the power of memory and thus are memorials in and of themselves.  Artists navigate their own life experiences: love, loss, disappointment, anger to find meaning through lyrics.  This is a gift they pass on to those of us who take the time to listen. 

Permanent memorials do the exact same thing.  They trigger our memories and often evoke unexpected emotions.  While radio waves, vinyl and MP3 files preserve the lyrics that remind us, a granite memorial immortalizes the memories we choose to etch upon them.  Any lover of music should be a lover of memorialization because that is exactly what music is and what music does. 

So, the next time you hear a song that pulls on the heartstrings and rekindles a memory, whisper a thank you to the artist and remember the power of memorials.  The only difference between songs and monuments is the permanency a memorial provides, holding those memories like tune in the air.